Subject: Re: 21 year old age cured shark and the black death

From: [email-masked] (Eirikur T. Einarsson)
Date: 17 Dec 1993 11:58:22 -0000

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Richard R Carlton) writes:

>Friends in Iceland gave me wining and dining information that mentions the 
>national drink as the Black Death or brennivin (for which you must be 21) and 
>the national delicacy as age cured shark (for which the shark must be 21 years 
>old).  Can anyone enlighten me on exactly what these are, how they are 
>prepared, how they are eaten, and perhaps comment on their historical 
>development?

You are right about the Black Death (brennivin), but about the shark - your
friends have been lying! :-) - 

The shark is usually eaten during the old month Thorri, which starts around
middle January and untill about middle February.  The processing of the
shark before it is eaten was like this:

After the shark was caught it was cut into chunks which were then either
buried in the ground for about 6 weeks up to 3 months.  This was done to
dry some unwanted juices and seawater from the meat.  The shark was turned
it the hole at least once during this time.  After the 3 months the shark
was then hanged in a shelter, which had a roof, but either no walls or wooden
walls through which the wind could freely blow to dry the shark untill it
was fully processed.  The wind made a shell around the meat chunk and under
that shell, which was about an inch thick the meat is light pink and soft.
The chunks are cut in small pieces, about an inch or less long and high, and
eaten like we eat snack with the brennivin.  The shark smells heavily and
most people don't like the smell, but the taste is different from the smell,
some people like it - some don't.  I forgot to mention that the shark is
hanging in the shelter for about 3 to 5 months and is therefore eaten up to
9 months old not 21 years as your friends told you!

Most of the processing info I have translated freely from a book on old
tradition relating to fisheries and fish processing.  The book describes
almost exactly how the shark processing was done in the various places
around Iceland untill the beginning of this century and some methods are
even used today.  I think though that the shark processing methods are
more modern to day that those I have described above.  I am not shure if
the shark is buried at all now, but only but up to dry for several weeks.

Hope this answeres your question.

Eirikur T. Einarsson, librarian
Icelandic Fisheries Laboratories
Marine Research Institute
Reykjavik, Iceland

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